He got a few knockbacks today when he tried to give his resume out at the local shops.

I stayed my friend's house for three nights.

a legionary force

“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes[…]. And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […]”